Sherri Saum on raising her twins bilingual and working with Viola Davis

By Alex Cramer

October 08, 2015

Sherri Saum has made
her way over to Shondaland.
The Fosters star will appear on How to Get Away
with Murder
during Shonda Rhimes’ hit Thursday night on ABC. For Sherri, joining
the breakout show from 2014 has its perks like starring opposite
Viola Davis,
who just won an Emmy for her role in the crime drama. “I just really was
honored to work with someone like Viola, her stature. I've always admired her,
and just to be able to sit and watch her act, Shonda's no dummy,” she told
HELLO! at the Voices On Point Gala in L.A. “She did well. She picked well. And I soaked
up every second of it.”

Photo: Getty Images

Consider it an acting
class refresher! “It was an amazing experience working – all my scenes, pretty
much were with Viola,” she said. “And she's a triumph and a master class, so
that was amazing.”

While Sherri wasn’t
able to give away too many details about what her role would entail, she did
drop a few hints. “It's a
departure from my character on
The Fosters. We'll say that right now. A major
departure. So it's going to be really fun. I can't wait to watch it.”

As for if this can be
a recurring role, the 41-year-old continued: “This character, I'm not sure. I'm
hoping I return in a different incarnation.” But don’t worry Foster fans, Lena
Foster isn’t going anywhere. In fact, Sherri was joined by her co-star of the
Jennifer Lopez produced show, Teri Polo, at the event that supports LGBTQ
students in achieving a better future.

Photo: Getty Images

Looking stunning in
an all-black ensemble, it’s hard to believe she gave birth to twin boys, Michael Luis and John Ruben, just
over a year ago. “Well, it's funny. I always hear people who had young
children say, ‘Oh, I get my workout running after my kids.’ I'm like, that's
not a workout,” she admitted. “And now, I really get it. It is a workout. I
don't sit down anymore. I used to like chill, watch my Netflix. But now, it's
just like I don't sit down. So that's really what it is.”

Her boys, who turned
1 in May, have recently started running their mouths as much as their feet. “Their
first word was mas because we speak to them in Spanish,” Sherri who married
Kamar de los Reyes in 2007. “We teach them Spanish first, as a first language.
So the first word is mas, which is more. They're like me; they like to eat. So whatever we're feeding, they're like, ‘Mas? Mas?’”